Fatigue
by cherrymilk
Summary: Tifa comes down with the flu! Fortunately, Cloud and the kids are around to make sure everything runs smoothly. And that goes as well as you'd imagine. [Cloud/Tifa]


As soon as she woke up, Tifa immediately knew something was wrong.

For one thing, her limbs felt heavy. For another, her throat was the site of an uncomfortable soreness.

She was sick.

 _This is fine,_ she thought, her eyes staring at her ceiling. _Just a few seconds of rest, and I'll be able to get up._

She found comfort in this promise, and so she closed her eyes.

* * *

"Tifa?"

Tifa's eyes fluttered open, only to see Denzel's worried face looking down at her.

"It's ten 'o clock," he said. He paused for a moment before continuing. "You don't look so good."

"I'm absolutely fine," Tifa croaked, pushing herself up.

"You don't sound fine."

"I'm just a little tired, that's all." Tifa mustered up a smile, but Denzel didn't look convinced in the slightest. "Did you have breakfast? Do you want me to make pancakes?"

"Uh, no, that's alright." He shoved his small hands in his pockets. "Marlene should be here soon. I figured I'd come remind you."

"Oh, that's right!" Tifa attempted to shoot out of bed, but she immediately lost her balance and found herself holding onto Denzel for dear life.

"You're sick," Denzel said firmly, gently pushing her back onto the bed. "You need to rest. Cloud'll come home if I call him."

"No, no, you don't have to do that," Tifa said, the words barely intelligible over a cough. "We can help each other out and manage. I'm sure I'll be fine by the time Marlene gets here."

Denzel pulled the covers over her. "If you say so."

* * *

"Tifa?"

This time, another small voice was calling her name. Tifa opened her eyes, and noted that she was now able to add 'headache' to the list of things that were plaguing her. Marlene stood by her side, anxiously pulling on her ribbon.

"Hi, sweetie," Tifa said. Her voice was husky, and she wished she hadn't said anything at all.

Marlene placed a cool hand on Tifa's forehead. "You're sick. Do you want me to go check if Daddy is still outside?"

"No, no." Tifa shook her head. "I wasn't feeling great this morning, but I feel _much_ better now."

Tifa couldn't see Denzel, but she heard him scoff.

"Do you want me to call Cloud?" Marlene asked.

"That's alright, honey." Tifa sat up slowly. "Why don't you help me downstairs and we can get started on lunch, hmm?"

"Okay," Marlene said uncertainly. "But I still think we should call Cloud."

The truth was, Tifa felt _terrible_ – and it would have been nice to have Cloud take over for a day. But she didn't want to worry him. Besides, he'd be back once he'd made his deliveries.

Marlene led Tifa downstairs, with Denzel trailing behind them. Once they were in the kitchen, Tifa found herself being led to a chair.

"You can watch," Marlene said in her best responsible-grown-up voice. "We can manage."

So Tifa watched as vigilantly as she could while Marlene made grilled cheese sandwiches. While she sat, Denzel disappeared for a moment before showing up with a fleece blanket. He wrapped it around Tifa's shoulders.

She hadn't even noticed that she'd been shivering.

As Marlene plated the sandwiches, she began speaking in quiet tones to Denzel. Tifa was making every effort to stay awake, but she soon found herself drifting off.

She awoke to a strange earthy smell – but it wasn't the smell that woke her up, exactly. It was the feeling of being carried.

She froze as soon as she realized who exactly was carrying her. Two questions immediately popped in her mind: why was he carrying her? And why was he even _here_?

Tifa cleared her throat quietly just as Cloud was carrying her into her bedroom. If she hadn't felt so awful, then there would have been butterflies in her stomach.

"Didn't mean to wake you," he said, placing her gently on the bed. "Did you tell Marlene and Denzel not to call me?"

"Maybe," Tifa said sheepishly, leaning back into the pillow.

Cloud sighed. "You're sick. You need to rest."

"You need to be out making deliveries," Tifa countered, her voice hoarse. "People are counting on you."

Cloud shrugged. "They'll survive."

Tifa spotted Marlene and Denzel peeking around the doorframe.

"You can come in," she said. "I'm not going to bite."

The kids shuffled in and stood by Cloud.

"We know you said not to call," Marlene began.

Tifa shook her head. "It's fine. I'm not always right."

"Anyway." Denzel was speaking now. "Tell us what we need to do around here while you rest."

Tifa decided to give up pretending to be healthy, and began to rattle off a list of things to do. Cloud began to pale.

"….And make _sure_ you close the latch on the front door," Tifa said, her speech coming to an end. She turned to Cloud. "If any customers get rowdy, you'll need to kick them out."

"Right," Cloud said, looking slightly panicked and overwhelmed. "Sure, we can do that."

"We can?" Denzel asked incredulously.

* * *

Tifa spent most of the day asleep. The first disturbance came around early evening. It took a moment, but Tifa's eyes eventually focused on the clock. It was too early to be hearing the sound of breaking glass.

Tifa saw Cloud rushing past her bedroom.

"Cloud!" she called, her voice quiet. It hurt to speak.

Cloud poked his head around the doorframe. "You're awake."

"Did something break down there?"

There was a long, long pause.

"No…?" Cloud eventually said.

Tifa raised an eyebrow.

"Just a glass," Cloud said, backtracking quickly. "You don't have to worry about it."

"Alright," Tifa said uncertainly. "I was just worried that it was something important."

* * *

The second disturbance came much later. If she were to go by the clock, Tifa would've guessed that Seventh Heaven's clients were either leaving, or were insisting on downing a few more drinks. Tifa was very firm with customers who were getting out of hand – and there were definitely a few regulars that always tried to resist her. Right before she had fallen asleep again, she'd hoped for a quiet night for Cloud's sake.

 _Wishful thinking_ , she thought.

This time, instead of waiting for someone to walk by her room, Tifa lugged herself out of bed. She dragged her feet to the top of the staircase, where she could barely see Cloud trying to get rid of the last very drunk patron.

"I leave when I leave," the customer slurred.

Cloud's expression was one of complete helplessness. There was a very good reason as to why he was in the delivery business, and not the restaurant/bar business: he was absolute rubbish at dealing with people.

The customer kicked over a chair in his attempt to get back to his spot.

"You're going to have to keep quiet," Cloud said awkwardly. "Someone is trying to rest upstairs."

The patron snorted, and went out of his way to kick another chair.

"Alright," Cloud said, his voice firm. "You're leaving."

He placed a hand on the man's shoulder. Tifa began walking down the steps, but she began to move a little faster when the man's hand balled into a fist.

She wasn't fast enough, though, because a split second later, Cloud had been punched square in the eye.

"Hey!" Tifa croaked, trying to sound threatening. She marched right up to the patron. "You leave right now, or I ban you for life."

That did the trick, because the customer was out of the door before Cloud could even react. Tifa walked over to Cloud, who was bending over the bar top.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I let my guard down."

"Let me see." Tifa gently turned Cloud's face towards her own. A painful looking bruise was beginning to bloom around his eye.

"I'm fine," Cloud repeated.

"Sure you are." Tifa nodded. She walked behind the bar and began scooping ice into a plastic bag.

"He seemed pretty scared of you," Cloud remarked, taking the bag of ice from Tifa and placing it gingerly on his eye.

"They all are. It's all in the tone."

"I'll try to remember that next time."

Tifa sighed and looked around the bar. "Why don't you go upstairs? I'll clean up down here."

"What? No. Just two more things on your list and I'll be done."

Tifa chuckled. "Would finishing the list have been some kind of accomplishment?"

"I mean…" Cloud repositioned the makeshift ice pack on his face. "I just wanted you to rest."

"Let's rest then," Tifa said.

* * *

The day had started pretty terribly, that was for sure. Waking up with a sore throat and heavy limbs wasn't Tifa's idea of a good time at all.

"What are you thinking about?" Cloud asked softly.

Tifa turned toward him. He was lying flat on her bed with the ice balanced on his face.

"Just about how annoying it is to wake up with the flu," Tifa said. She was sitting cross-legged next to him. "What about you?"

"Just about how annoying it is to get punched in the eye," Cloud replied.

Tifa laughed. "We were definitely off our game today."

"Yeah, well…" Cloud winced as Tifa repositioned the ice on his face. "At least the kids ate."

"That's true," Tifa nodded. "And I got some rest."

"And I put the kids to bed," Cloud added. "And…I got hit, but I'd say I was pretty productive before."

"Thank you for coming back," Tifa said. "I can't imagine what today would have been like without you."

Cloud's cheeks turned pink. "It's alright."

Tifa exhaled heavily. "Still, though – a pretty bad day all around." She paused for a moment. "This is nice. I don't mind being sick if it means we can sit here together."

"I want to say I don't mind this," Cloud said, gesturing toward his face. "But I don't think you'd believe me."

"Not for a second," Tifa said, her tone content. Without thinking, she leaned down and kissed Cloud on the cheek.

"What was that for?"

"Nothing."

"Is it too late to say that this day is starting to turn around?"

Tifa chuckled, despite the fact that her throat was burning. "Not at all. Just…not at all."


End file.
